The state police bomb squad was called into town Tuesday morning to help dispose of tear gas cartridges that had once helped secure town hall safes.

The safes, which town officials believe were built in the 1920s, had the cartridges installed to prevent tampering attempts.

Town Manager Blythe Robinson said the situation came up as local officials moved out of the town hall, which is set to be renovated. The town, she said, had two of the same model of safe, one of which was used by the treasurer and the other used only sparingly.

"As part of the process of moving out, we determined we didn't need one of the safes, and put it on an auction site," she said. "One gentleman, who used to be on the fire department, bought the safe."

Robinson said the man noticed the device when he came to examine the safe he purchased.

"He contacted a locksmith, who confirmed that it was a device that, if someone tried to drill into the safe, would release tear gas," she said. "Both safes had the device installed, and we got the locksmith to agree to remove the devices from the safe doors."

Robinson said that removal took place on Tuesday.

Town Fire Chief Aaron Goodale said the question became what to do with the devices after they'd been removed.

"At that point, we got involved," he said. "I contacted the bomb squad about disposing of them."

The devices, he said, still appeared to be active.

"From what I could tell, the devices were intact," he said. "The concern was, if they were dropped, they could detonate."

Those present made the decision to move the cartridges to the Department of Public Works building on Pleasant Street to be detonated. The detonation, Goodale said, went through successfully.

Goodale said he had never come across a similar situation.

"(The situation) was familiar to the bomb techs, although they had never seen this particular device before," he said. "It's all in a day's work - you never know what you're going to find on any given call."